New York City, June 15, 2015

★★ Clouds and mist became clouds and haze and then an unexpected late-morning sun. The air was so wet that the temperature was irrelevant; a little game of foam-rubber baseball in the living room was a chore. Out in the forecourt, light glistened on a shirtless man’s bulging and the gold medal around his neck as he posed for photos with an oversized prop prize check, made out for a $10,000 bodybuilding prize. A smoky whiteness clung to the newest skinny luxury tower in the distance. A cloud re-covered the sun. Walking felt like wading. Old raindrops had left amoebic outlines as they evaporated from the glossy stone benches on 65th Street. More clouds gathered and an ominous little breeze moved around. A walk of one block over and eight up had the children complaining of the distance. A fine drizzle began to fall. The sky down past Columbus Circle was darkening. Down on the D train, peripheral vision caught the falling of a drip from the car’s air conditioner. Downtown, the darker clouds were now uptown, the sidewalks wet in tentative sunlight. New clouds came and new raindrops spread parentheses on the pools of water atop the next building’s ductwork. Suddenly the chill was more than the humidity could hide.